Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

8.7 HIGH-RISK FERTILITY BEHAVIOR
The survival of infants and children depends in part on the demographic and biological
characteristics of their mothers. These characteristics are of particular importance because many
health problems are easily avoidable at a relatively low cost. Infants and children have an elevated
risk of dying if their mothers are too young (under 18 years of age) or too old (over 35 years old), if
they are born after too short a birth interval (less than 24 months), and if they are of high birth order
(mother has three or more children). Although first births are commonly associated with higher
mortality risk, they are not included in the high-risk category because the risks associated with first
births are unavoidable.
Table 8.5 shows the percent distribution of children born in the five years preceding the
survey and the percent distribution of currently married women, by risk factors. The table also shows
the risk ratio (of dying) for children, by comparing the proportion of dead children in each risk
category with the proportion of dead children not in any high-risk category.
106 | Infant and Child Mortality
Table 8.5 High-risk fertility behavior
Percent distribution of children born in the five years preceding the survey by category of
elevated risk of mortality and the risk ratio, and percent distribution of currently married
women by category of risk if they were to conceive a child at the time of the survey, Timor-
Leste 2009-10
Risk category
Births in the 5 years
preceding the survey
Percentage
of births Risk ratio
Percentage of
currently
married
women 1
Not in any high risk category 18.7 1.00 12.2a Unavoidable risk category
First order births between ages 18 and 34 years
Single high-risk category
15.1 1.33 3.6
Mother’s age 34 1.5 1.73 4.7
Birth interval 3 21.8 1.26 13.8
Subtotal
Multiple high-risk category
34.9 1.32 27.9
Age 3
Age >34 & birth interval 3 4.9 2.75 8.8
Birth interval 3 9.3 1.90 11.5
Subtotal 31.3 1.70 56.3
In any avoidable high-risk category 66.2 1.50 84.2
Total 100.0 na 100.0
Number of births/women 9,828 na 7,906
Notes: Risk ratio is the ratio of the proportion dead among births in a specific high-risk
category to the proportion dead among births not in any high-risk category. An asterisk
indicates that a figure is based on fewer than 25 unweighted cases and has been suppressed.
na = Not applicable
1 Women are assigned to risk categories according to the status they would have at the birth
of a child if they were to conceive at the time of the survey: current age less than 17 years
and 3 months or older than 34 years and 2 months, latest birth less than 15 months ago, or
latest birth being of order 3 or higher.
2 Includes the category age 3
a Includes sterilized women
Two-thirds (66 percent) of births in Timor-Leste have elevated mortality risks that are
avoidable, and about one in five (19 percent) are not in any high-risk category. Among those who are
at risk, 35 percent of births are in a single high-risk category, while 31 percent of births are in multiple
high-risk categories. In general, risk ratios are higher for children in multiple high-risk categories than
for those in a single high-risk category.